In connection with the support of patients to enable them to sit upright in a chair or other seating unit, a variety of support devices have been proposed. The need for devices for maintaining patients in a sitting position is particularly acute for those patients whose own muscles provide insufficient support, such as paraplegic patients and those with weak torso muscles. In such patients, the body's normal nervous or muscle systems have been injured, impaired or weakened to such an extent that they do not allow the torso to remain in an upright position, such as in a chair. These patients tend to slump down, lean forward or tilt toward the side. Even when in a geriatric chair, with its high back and tilted seat and back, a paraplegic may not remain in position. Often patients are secured to a chair with a single waist belt. Some may, however, lean so far forward that their head rests on their knees and their chair tips forward, presenting a significant risk of severe injury. Consequently, many patients require external support to compensate for the body's weakened or damaged internal support.
Many devices that have been proposed are positioned on or about the patient and secured to the chair or seating unit. For example, one such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,851,033 by Posey. Posey discloses an apron-like device for securing a person to a chair. The one-piece device wraps around the front of the person and is attached to the sides and seat of the chair with hip, abdomen, chest and shoulder straps to hold the patient in the chair. U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,152 by Legan et al. discloses another apron-like device for securing a person in a chair. The one-piece device includes shoulder straps which cooperate with waste loops for attaching the device to a chair and for holding the patient in the chair. U.S. Pat. No. 3,136,311 by Lewis discloses a vest-like device for securing a person to a chair. The one-piece device wraps around the person and is attached to the back of the chair with straps to hold the patient in the chair. None of the foregoing devices includes detachable, custom fitted, flexible cushions having a desired thickness for support.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,425 by Yetter Jr. discloses a restraining device having a head band secured about the user's head and attached by a strap to the back of a chair. It also includes two elongated side cushions positioned vertically between the chair arms and the user. It does not include a back cushion and does not wrap around the person to provide support for the torso.
Despite a variety of support systems for paraplegics and other people having problems maintaining their torso in a sitting position, it would be advantageous to provide an apparatus that substitutes for the body's own support system, provides comfort, is portable and easy to use and can be customized to fit each individual patient.